A Gust for a Butterfly
by Not-An-Underling
Summary: After issues have been resolved in the Zero Dimension, IF tries to solve the mystery of a newfound organization and why it was formed while Neptune is her usual lazy slacking self.
1. Doing what Neps do

"Huh? Nep's not here?"

* * *

Confusion filled IF's voice as the oracle of Planeptune gave her rather shocking news. Neptune hadn't been kidnapped, she hadn't been wounded, and she hadn't been forced out of the Basilicom. The most unheard of thing to have happen had actually happened; Neptune went out on her own to get some work from the guild. "How'd you even manage to get her to go do her own work?"

Histoire shrugged. "I haven't a clue why she decided to do work herself. She just woke up, ate her breakfast, grabbed Nepgear, and told her they were going to do some quests. I for one certainly welcome the change in Neptune's work attitude. Would you like to come inside for some tea?" The small girl floating on top of her book moved to the side and made a welcoming motion inside. IF gladly accepted, figuring it would be best to talk with Histoire about some of the recent issues that Planeptune had been having with some outlaws.

* * *

Entering the room that the girls usually hung around in and taking a seat in one of the comfy chairs surrounding a table, IF yawned, closed her eyes, and rested her head back. Histoire, who had just entered the room with a pot of tea and a few cups resting on her book, took notice of the girl's tiredness. "Is everything alright, IF?" The oracle asked.

IF opened both of her eyes and glanced towards Histoire before sitting up and responding. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been a bit tired recently with all the shenanigans going on around here recently with that new group of felons. Speaking of which, would you mind talking about that now? I figure now's a decent time to share any information we know."

Histoire nodded, setting down the tea set on the table. "Why yes, of course. Let me pour us some tea first." The small oracle grabbed the handle on the pot and lifted it up. Or rather, the oracle tried to lift it. Her small frame would not allow her to lift something of that size.

IF watched Histoire struggle to pick up the pot, fighting her urge to giggle as she smirked. After a few more moments of watching the girl fruitlessly lift the tea, IF moved her hand to pick up the container herself. "Don't worry, I got it. Just tell me what you've found out."

After taking a breath to recover, Histoire started to tell IF of the recent information she had obtained. "Not too much is known about this new organization besides that it is named LiWa, and they're distributing chips previously used and given out by ASIC members."

Finishing pouring the cup of tea meant for Histoire, IF thought to herself for a few seconds with an inquisitive hum. Her eyes widened as she had a moment of realization. "That makes sense then. According to information I have, they're two former ASIC members that are trying to revive the group. I'm guessing that the 'Wa' part of the name is based on that rat Warechu's name, but that makes me wonder who forms the other part? The only other member I can think of is the Underling, but Un isn't in the group name."

Histoire shrugged. IF shrugged back. The two grabbed their cups of tea and took a sip. "Histoire, I'm home!" A familiar voice called out, breaking the silence between the two. Looking towards the doorway, IF saw the less lazy lilac-haired girl of Planeptune Nepgear enter.

"Heya Gear, where's Nep?" IF questioned curiously, knowing that Neptune and Nepgear had both gone out questing.

Nepgear shyly giggled. "She… saw one of the places she regularly gets pudding at had a new flavor so she just bolted off without me."

IF shook her head and sighed. "Typical Nep for ya." After offering another chuckle to IF, Nepgear left to go to her room and get changed out of the clothing she'd gotten dirt on due to combat. IF took another sip of tea.

…Before spitting out half and almost choking on the other half as Neptune burst through the door carrying several bags filled with pudding. "Oh Histy, I'm hoooOOOOME!" IF had nearly fallen out of her chair in shock, while the Planeptune oracle looked completely unfazed and unamused.

"I'm glad to see you've returned Neptune, but why did you buy so much pudding?" Histoire asked, both happy that Neptune had actually done some work and annoyed that she had purchased an obscene amount of pudding.

"Isn't it obvious Histy? I just did a bunch of work and boy, I am huuungry!" Neptune responded joyfully, setting her bags of pudding down on the table next to the tea. "I've gotta make sure I'm properly nourished in order to maintain my solo quest capable form! I'm a strong independent Planeptune CPU and I don't need no help!" One of IF's eyes twitched. Neptune went off and did a single quest without her and now she was acting all high and mighty. Neptune had even brought Nepgear along, so it wasn't even a solo quest! Oh well, Nep was Nep.

One of IF's nine phones rang, breaking her train of thought and grabbing her attention. IF took the phone out of its holster and looked at the message. Taking the last sip from her small cup of tea, IF turned to look at Histoire. "Thanks for letting me stop by Histoire. I'll be heading out now to see if I can find anymore dirt on LiWa. One of my sources just gave me a tip on where something might be happening. Apparently something strange is happening down in Leanbox."

Histoire smiled lightly and nodded in response. "Of course, IF. Come by anytime. I'll be wishing you good luck on your search."

Meanwhile, Neptune pouted and grumbled like a child not getting dessert after dinner. "Oh come on Iffy, I just got here! I'm not gonna wanna do anymore work if you just leave every time I come back!"

A chuckle and shake of the head came from IF as she saw the CPU plead. "Maybe some other time Nep, right now I've got some important business to attend to." Neptune didn't like that answer at all, but she could at least respect it.

IF was stopped one more time as she got ready to open the door. "Hold on a sec IF!" Nepgear called out as she ran down the hallway. She stopped a few feet away from IF before revealing why she had stopped the mercenary. "You said you were going to Leanbox, right?" IF nodded, prompting the candidate to continue. "In that case, do you mind if I come with you? I hear there's some kind of new glasses technology that Macrosoft is showcasing and I'd love to see it. I heard that in one demonstration they controlled a robot and moved virtual furniture around a room!" Stars started to form in Nepgear's eyes. It was easy to see that she was excited for this (especially the robot part).

"S-Sure Nepgear, I don't mind at all." IF responded to an overly excited Nepgear. "Just keep in mind that when we get there I'll be doing guild work, and it'd be nice if you could help me out when I do start to-"

A loud shout came from the other side of the room, interrupting IF. "WAAAAAAAIT!" startled, IF and Nepgear both turned to face the shouting CPU. "If Nepgear goes to Leanbox, Vert is gonna to try and get her sister-stealing hands all over Nepgear! She'll even resort to the big guns," Neptune paused for effect, "Inappropriate coddling!"

The two girls looking at Neptune sighed. "Don't worry about it Nep, I won't let Vert brainwash your sister."

Neptune stared at IF for a moment, making sure that she didn't have any signs on her face saying that she was scheming with Vert all along. "Alright alright, but make sure Vert doesn't try anything funny with Nepgear! At all! If I hear of anybody coddling my lovely wittle bitty sister I'll be peeved! I'll be so mad that I'd say…" Neptune trailed off, thinking of what word to use. "BEGOUCH! Yeah!"

IF smirked and stifled a laugh. After reassuring Neptune one more time that Vert wouldn't get too personal with her hugs with Nepgear, the lilac-haired CPU and brunette mercenary duo started to make their way to Leanbox.

* * *

Travelling the road with Nepgear, IF pondered on what the future had in store. One thing especially stuck on her mind was Neptune's new work attitude. It was, reasonably, a major surprise that Neptune was doing her own work for once. Though she was happy for the slacker, she couldn't help but be concerned for her own selfish reasoning. With Neptune not coming to her and begging for help, IF would have quite a bit more time on her hands that she didn't know what to do with. Well, she assumed that currently the newfound time would go straight into her work hours, but she wondered what she would do afterwards.

A phrase was stuck to IF's mind for some reason. _"I'm a strong, independent Planeptune CPU and I don't need no help!"_ The brunette pondered over those words again and again and again. With that attitude, IF hoped Neptune didn't get overly confident and rush into something she shouldn't.


	2. Examining Leanbox and Finding References

IF took in a deep breath of the slightly misty fresh spring air. An expression of calm happiness warmed her face as signified by a slight curl of the corners of her lips forming a smile. This was definitely Leanbox- there could be no mistaking it. Despite always keeping up her cool, calm, and occasionally chunbiyuu attitude, IF would never get over the rush of smelling the blooming flowers of Leanbox. Leanbox, as opposed to Planeptune, seemed to be in a state of just entering Spring as compared to Planeptune's feeling of a late Summer type of season. The mercenary enjoyed every single one of her trips to Leanbox. Despite her Planeptunian origins, IF had always wanted to move into Leanbox so she could live and work there. She had sent her admittance papers with Falcom when she went on boat to go to Leanbox quite a while ago, but she never got an answer from Leanbox on whether she was accepted or denied. Strange, really. Speaking of Falcom, where was she? IF hadn't seen her ever since she left.

Nevertheless, IF enjoyed spending any time in Leanbox she could. She had several reasonable reasons for loving the country and wanting to live there; There was the beautiful grassy scenery, the lovely feeling spring weather, the calm and classy atmosphere, and, best of all, there was even her: the lovely, graceful, and beautiful-

"IF?" IF snapped to attention as Nepgear called out her name. With a curious look, IF faced towards the candidate as she listened for what she had to say. "You're kinda... drooling a bit." IF raised an eyebrow before wiping her face with the arm of her coat. She hadn't been drooling, she was just a little lost in thought and- oh dear goddesses she had been drooling. A blush crossed IF's face as she furiously wiped away at her face, trying to get rid of even a small sign of drool. Nepgear couldn't help but chuckle at IF's expense. "What were you thinking about, IF?"

The blush deepened a bit. "N-Nothing! I-I mean, I wasn't thinking about anything in particular." Stuttering through her sentence, IF's lie was more obvious than a guy in a pink bodysuit shouting in a city.

Nepgear started to get curious. IF had been staring blankly into space during the ferry ride into Leanbox, occasionally switching between having a slight smile, a blank expression, and a concerned stare. Showing her concern, Nepgear continued, "Are you sure? It seemed like you were thinking about quite a lot on our way in."

IF kept looking at Nepgear for a few seconds as she considered telling her what she did have on her mind, but she shook her head at both herself and Nepgear. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing to worry about." Nepgear maintained eye contact for a little longer before dropping her question. The two traveled in silence as they continued to walk through the elegantly designed city and went towards the Guild.

* * *

When the Planeptunian duo entered the Guild, they were both greeted by several of the guild workers. IF had become a regular at the Planeptune and Leanbox Guild, so it wasn't strange in the slightest for anyone to recognize her. On the other hand, Nepgear was both the CPU Candidate and the frequent target of Vert's affections. These two facts, combined with her primarily white and light purple clothing made her stand out in the dominantly green and white clothed crowds, making her very easily recognizable just about anywhere.

After returning the greetings they received, IF and Nepgear headed to the quest board. While IF had received word that the rate of minor thefts had increased in frequency, they seemed to be mostly disconnected and not related. Nevertheless, the brunette had decided that going around the city while doing some additional quests was not only a good way to earn some extra credits, but would also give her the opportunity to check around the city for any small scale crimes in progress and talk with some of the locals on what they saw happen and what had been stolen.

The two girls scrolled through the quest list for a handful of minutes before deciding on what to do. "Hey Nepgear, how about this one?" IF asked as she pointed to the quest pulled up on the screen. "It's a quest to smash up a few M-3 drones that got infected by some sorta virus and went haywire. It should be fairly easy work, and since some of them probably scattered we should get a chance to travel around the city." Approving of the proposal, Nepgear nodded her head.

* * *

Glancing down at her phone, IF checked an online map of the city to plan a route throughout the area. IF made sure to not to look at her phone for too long at a time; she remembered what happened last time someone bumped into her while she was staring at her phone _far_ too well. That was definitely a lesson she would never, _ever_ forget.

Finally deciding on the optimal route, IF motioned for Nepgear to look over and started to speak. "Alright Nepgear, I've got a route planned out for us. The last three places that got stolen from were UncommonWare, Zoon, and Nokeyah. If we travel down this road here," IF zoomed in slightly on the map and pointed to a road, "Go this way, take a turn there, and go down that laneway, we'll be able to go to all three places, cover quite a bit of ground to search for drones, and we'll end up not too far from the Basilicom. Sound good?" Finishing her lines, IF looked up towards the candidate with a questioning look.

"Of course." Nepgear responded.

Beginning their walk, the duo's plan directed them towards Nokeyah, a phone manufacturer, first. Nepgear, who was known for being _very_ interested in machinery and mechanics, was naturally eager to make a visit down to the store. The candidate wasn't the only one who was excited, though; IF also had her own notorious love for cellphones, the nine hanging off her coat being proof of that. After that… _accident_ that happened involving her phone she had ordered phones of similar appearance from Nokeyah. They were strong, durable, and could survive an explosion. You couldn't destroy one of these things if you tried! They were just the epitome of the modern market's technological advancements and-

"I-IF?" Nepgear hesitantly tried to get the brunette's attention. IF turned her head to the lilac candidate.

"You're drooling again."

* * *

After 20 minutes of walking, the two finally arrived at the storefront. It was a fairly small and humble building. The outside of the store was a little rugged, but that symbolism represented the kind of product that was put out, and that in itself added its own charm. The only thing that was off about its appearance was fairly obvious; a collection of planks covered up a shattered glass pane. "Yup, the thief seemed to hit this place alright. Ready to go in Nepgear? ...Nepgear?" IF tried to snap Nepgear back to reality as the maker caught the candidate staring starry-eyed at the place. She was _waaay_ too excited to enter.

Grabbing the daydreaming girl by the hand, IF opened the store's door and entered with Nepgear with tow. Nepgear's eyes darted to the left and to the right as she took in the shop's atmosphere. Phones lined the walls and filled the display cases. Most of the items on display were newer models, but some older phones had their own showcase to display the change between phones now and then. Nepgear looked at these ancient models with interest. She wanted nothing more than to take them apart and see their delicate, precious internals and reverse engineer them to learn from the past and make the greatest phone to ever grace Gamindustri-

"Clear!" A voice shouted from what sounded like a backroom part of the store. IF's eyes widened.

Nepgear's attention was directed away from the phones for a moment as she heard the shout. Curious, she started to question, "Huh? What was that voi-  
WHATTHEGOODNESS!?"

IF had dived down to the floor, taking Nepgear down as well in the process. Nepgear let out an "oomph" as she hit the hard, white flooring. The impact didn't hurt her too much, but she still had to wonder why IF had just tackled her to the-

 **BOOM**

Nepgear's question was answered almost instantly as chunks of drywall went flying, followed by smoke and dust filling the room. The girls strained to see as they coughed while still on the ground. Was the store being robbed? Was someone going to kidnap them? WAS SOMEONE GOING TO TAKE IF'S PHONE? These thoughts danced around in the candidate's mind as IF slowly started to stand.

A few seconds later, a girl started to peek her head out from the hole in the back store caused by the recent blast. She was in heavily padded blue and white bulletproof armor, the kind you might see someone wear if they were trying to stop a heist in progress. No sane criminal would dare go up against anyone in that kind of overkill armor unless they had either a payday on the line or a deathwish. The armored girl took off her helmet, revealing her heterochromatic grey and blue eyes and sky blue hair, as she got off the floor, using part of the destroyed wall to help her stand back up. "Holy shit did I kill anyone?"

IF managed to stand on her two feet and nod her head. "I'm fine. Nepgear, how are you holding uuuuup…" IF's question started to trail off as she looked down at Nepgear with concern.

"I'm fiiiiiiine…" Nepgear weakly waved as her eyes started to spiral in stereotypical anime fashion before fainting.

* * *

Entering the room once again, the armored girl set an armful of planks, a handful of nails, and a handy hammer down on the store counter. "Sorry about earlier, I didn't expect the blast to be all that large. Maybe a bit too much gunpowder that time?" The armored girl shrugged before grabbing her supplies and getting to work on patching up the broken wall. "By the way IF, I don't think you've introduced me to your friend there. Care to introduce us?"

IF, sitting down near Nepgear in one of the chairs the bombardier had gotten for them, responded quickly. "Oh, right, my bad. Ides-tan, this is Nepgear, Nepgear, this is Ides-tan."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ides-tan." Nepgear responded cheerfully, seemingly unphased by the earlier events.

The mention of the candidate's name caused Ides-tan to miss the head of the nail she was hammering into, slamming right into her hand. Shaking her hand as if she had suffered no more pain than if she had been flicked, she turned around to face the two girls before taking a closer look at the candidate. "Huh, well would you look at that? I didn't notice you the first time around, my bad. Sorry for not having anything special prepared." With that, the engineer returned to fixing the wall. "So, what did you fella's come in here for?"

Nepgear looked to IF as if to prompt her to answer, which IF did. "We came by to ask about the burglary that took place, if you wouldn't mind."

Ides-tan grabbed another nail and started hammering that one in as she spoke. "Sure, I'm willing to talk about it," she started before finishing with rhetoric, "No harm done with questions about it, right?"

Having been given the metaphorical greenlight, IF started to speak once again. "Alright, thanks. Could you tell us anything about the person or people who did it and what they stole?"

Ides-tan, oddly enough, smirked before responding. "Two hooligans were rifling through a bunch of my prototype plans. One was small and was was average height, and both were wearing grey. I didn't get a good look as both of em fled the moment they saw me enter my testing room with all this bulky stuff on." The engineer patted her armor. "They ran so fast they didn't even consider using the door; they just burst straight through the window! It was hilarious!" The girl couldn't contain her laughter, taking a few seconds break from her repairs to regain her composure. "Honestly, that was the best thing I had seen all month. Oh, and the best part is that in the end, all the designs they stole were near obsolete! What a bunch of shmucks, eh?" IF and Nepgear couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the failed burglary, the worst damage done having only been the window.

IF started to note down what Ides-tan said, _juuuuust in case_ they ever needed that information. Or a laugh. As she did so, a question that Nepgear had been wondering about came to her mind. "Hey Ides-tan, what were you doing earlier that caused that explosion?"

The armored girl wasted no time responding. "Oh, simple: blast tests."

"Blast tests?" The candidate wondered.

"Yeah, blast tests." Ides-tan affirmed. "Y'know, blast tests. I was checking to make sure my new design was blast proof. Here, check it out!" Ides-tan grabbed a prototype phone with her spare hand for a second and tossed it to Nepgear. "That thing was in the center of that explosion."

Hearing those words made Nepgear's eyes sparkle once again. Such a marvel of technology! There wasn't even a scratch on the phone! "How… how did you do this?" The candidate started to speak as she got close and violated Ides-tan's personal space. " _I need to know."_ Ides-tan was reasonably scared of the lilac-haired candidate in that moment, as she was no more than a foot away from her face with an expression that practically screamed HIGH IMPACT NEPSUAL SNUGGLES.

Stepping away from her work to take a break, and by extension, get the heck away from Nepgear, the shopkeeper started to respond, "C-Calm down there, lady Nepgear. How exactly I make stuff is a bit of a trade secret, but I'm willing to show you some of my older, less durable prototypes if you're wanting to see 'em. They aren't the most durable designs in existence but you could probably learn a thing or two about sturdiness from them and ohdeargoddessesWHATTHEHELL!?"

Without any indication that she was about to, Nepgear sprang forth and glomped the blunette. "Goodness, thank you thank you thank you!" Now on top, the candidate firmly held Ides-tan closely as she hugged her.

Ides-tan, less excited about the situation, started flailing her limbs. "I-I need an adult!"

IF couldn't help but look on with a feeling of "just another monday" syndrome, a stereotypical sweat drop dripping from her forehead. "B-Bulldozer's history…"

* * *

15 M-3 drones, two more shops, and one fulfulled quest objective later, IF and Nepgear were back on the road and headed back towards the Guild. While their original plan after leaving Nokeyah was to go to Zoon and UncommonWare and ask a few questions to the makers there, they didn't get the chances to. When they had gone to Zoon, the small shop had been closed down for renovations. Nobody was around when the two had arrived, save for one girl. The lone girl had a slightly retro style in everything from her speech to her hair. In addition, she also had a pair of headphones on. The only word they could use to describe her was… Groovy.

On another note, the duo had about the same luck with UncommonWare. As they watched the large store from a distance, they saw many people protesting their new game, "Lute Flutie: Screws and Nails". Apparently, most of the fans of the previous two games didn't like the change from platforming gameplay to a game where you bolted together some nutty vehicles. At the front of the protesters appeared to be a slightly chubby man with a green bird. The Planeptunian duo were only able to hear a few phrases of his speech, those being, "Ech," "I LOST A ROCK," "HOLY SHIT UNCOMMONWARE HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME," and finally, "Cars? Cars!? CAAAAAAAAARS!?" The two fled as fast as they could from the fanatics, clearly creeped out.

As the two traveled down the road, they found themselves having nothing to do to pass the time as they walked; they had expended all options for small talk and IF wouldn't dare look at her phone again while walking. Bored, their idle attention turned to the nearby buildings. The two couldn't help but admire the sophisticatedly designed structures. There were admirable arches, intricate interiors, extravagant exteriors, and even beautiful, handcrafted statuettes that added just the right amount of pride to its overall appearan-

 _ **THUD**_

"Hey, watch where you're walking ya brat!" Said a female voice.

"Yeah, watch it, chu!" A male voice added on.

The Planeptune pair were so busy gazing that they had accidentally bumped into another pair (who had also been too busy gazing). Rubbing her head as she stood back up, Nepgear apologized first. "Goodness, I'm sorry."

"My bad." IF added on. After the collision, the two went on their way, going back to staring at the buildings they had been gazing at-

 _Wait_

Both Nepgear and IF stopped and looked behind themselves at the people they had just bumped into. They saw two familiar figures. One short, one average size.

Both wearing grey.

One was a mouse. The other was a green-haired girl that looked like an underling.

The candidate and the maker looked at each other. Then back at the other two. Then back at each other. Then they broke into a full sprint as they chased after Warechu and Underling. It didn't take the criminal pair much time at all to notice they were being chased, them going full speed away from their pursuers. IF shouted at the ASIC members, "Get back here you two!"

The chase wasn't obvious to the bystanders standing by, the bustling crowd of Leanbox's sounds canceling out IF's shout to all except those who were already shoved aside by the underling. At this rate, the suspects would get away. IF turned her head to the Planeptune candidate before shouting, "Nepgear, transform!"

The purple sister looked at the windwalker for a second before nodding. Jumping into the air to keep her momentum, Nepgear went into her HDD form and grabbed IF before flying forward at incredible speed.

"Ah shit, the brat is going all magical girl on us!" Linda voiced her concern to her companion as she picked him up off the ground, holding him in both of her arms. She ran as fast as she could, her taller body allowing her to go at a faster pace than Warechu's stubby legs would have allowed him to go. Seeing the two girls behind them catching up quickly, Linda acknowledged in her head that they would lose any outdoor pursuit and looked for nearby shortcuts. With little time to make a decision, she kicked down the door to a conveniently placed abandoned warehouse and ran inside.

Panicking, the mouse spoke up by shouting, "This is why I wanted to go to Planeptune, chu! No matter where we start doin' stuff the CPUs are gonna be after us, so we might as well go to some place nice, chu!"

"Can it and help me look for a way out!" Fueled by a desire to simply not get caught, the underling's feet carried her at a rapid pace as her eyes frantically scanned for an exit she could go through to lose her pursuers. Unfortunately, she reached the other end of the shambled building before she could properly devise a plan. "Damn it!" Underling cried out as her face started to turn pale out of worry.

Sighing to himself, Warechu jumped out of the green-haired girl's arms. "Fine, fine, I'll be the sacrificial mouse, chu. Find an exit and get outta here while I distract em, chu!" The mouse stood his ground in front of the underling as he looked back at her. The girl looked shocked at his selfless sacrifice, but accepted it without hesitation. Nodding her head, she acknowledged her comrade and started to flee, knowing that all the mouse would want in return would be being busted out of jail later.

Moments later, the sounds of a pair of feet smacking against the ground grew louder as the two girls from Planeptune caught up to the rat. "Where did that underling go?" IF asked to no one in particular as she approached the stationary criminal with speed.

Warechu spoke as he blocked their path, "She's busy escaping, chu! Even villains believe in the power of friendship, chu!" IF and Nepgear looked down at the mouse.

IF cracked her knuckles.

* * *

As the dust settled, it faded away to reveal the aftermath of the fight. Empty boxes were scattered. The floor was scratched with marks from gun and sword. The Planeptune duo saw Warechu lying unconscious on the ground, having fainted only a minute or two into the fight. IF and Nepgear stood unscathed. The rat had barely even put up a fight! The most exhausting thing that he had done was run around the warehouse in circles, leading to a wild goose chase. Despite all this, he had still done what he intended to do; he bought time for his accomplice to get away.

IF grumbled unintelligible words under her breath while Nepgear sighed as she transformed back into her human form. The maker couldn't believe she had just let one of the thieves slip out from right under her hand! Nepgear noticed her friend's displeased state and came over to console her. "Don't worry about it IF, I'm sure it'll be fine. Look on the bright side- we caught one of them, didn't we?"

The maker's eyes turn to the candidate's as she nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, there's no use dilly dally shilly shallying here for much longer. Let's bring this rat in. We might be able to learn something from him if we… Do you hear that?" IF paused as both her and Nepgear looked towards the warehouse entrance, their attention captured by the sound of uniform, rhythmic boots hitting pavement.

As the sound got louder, the cause of the noises was revealed; policemen marched in line towards the two girls. The sound of voices also started to reach their ears. Were they… singing?

"We observe too great a stress," The person who seemed to be the sergeant of the squadron started, "On the risks that on us press. When the outlaw bares his steel, we uncomfortable feel, and we find the wisest thing, is to slap our chests and sing."

IF and Nepgear both raised an eyebrow as they watch the curious group of law enforcers approach where the mouse was on ground unconscious. Someone had definitely called the police earlier and they were definitely responding now. It seemed they had sent their more… "creative" unit to clean up the mess and take the mouse away.

Seemingly not done with his song after having picked up the mouse off the ground and cuffing him, the sergeant continued, "Yes, yes, we go!"

...And then marched in place.

Starting to get annoyed, IF made a remark. "Then do not stay."

The entirety of the police squad kept their rhythm as they looked at the maker and chanted. "Tarantara!"

"Then why this delay?" IF spoke again, still trying to figure out why they weren't moving.

"All right, we go. Yes, forward on the foe!" And yet, they remained still.

"But you don't go!" IF exclaimed as she groaned out. "What kind of shitshow did I just witness…? Why does all the weird stuff have to happen to me…?"

* * *

Entering the Basilicom as the sun set, the two girls let out a sigh of exhaustion and relief. From Neptune acting strange to meeting a bunch of policemen looking for pirates, today had certainly be strange- stranger than normal, at least. Finally upstairs where they could rest, Nepgear called out to Vert, "Hey Vert, we're here!" Nepgear would regret doing that. As the candidate finished her sentence, she and IF heard the distinctive sound of a controller being set down which was followed by a series of thumps against the ground. These thumps grew louder and louder until they turned to see the source; it was Vert running towards the girls to give them a hug-

"WHAT THE GOODNESS!?" Vert glomped the candidate mercilessly.

Immediately starting to con _vert_ her, the CPU inappropriately coddled Nepgear as they lay on the floor. "Oh my _adorable_ little sister, I'm glad you're home. Hug your older sister Vert back would you, Nepgear?" A dumb smile and spiral eyes took over the embraced girl's face as the aforementioned suggestive cuddling worked its normal charm.

 _I'm never gonna hear the end of this from Nep, am I?_ IF asked herself as she watched the scene unfold with a light smirk and a mild blush. "L-Lady Green Heart? Nep told me to stop you from trying to do anything to steal Nepgear away from her, so if you could let go of Nepgear that'd be great."

Shifting from her lying position and sitting up, the CPU kept the candidate positioned on or near her endowments the entire time. "Aww, but IF, I'm just spending some quality time bonding with my little sister, am I not? It's not like I'm doing any kind of girl-guy thing here or anything." The maker sighed as Vert turned her attention back to Nepgear. "My dearest sister Nepgear, I'm so _proud_ of you! I heard you did a quest for me and even caught one of the thieves in the process! Who could ever be as good as you? Now, repeat after me: Vert Onee-chan, Vert Onee-chan, Vert Onee-chan…"

Not wanting to deal with more insanity than she already had today, IF called out to the two and started to walk towards the guest room. "I'm… gonna head in for the night." The two were too occupied with hugging and brainwashing to acknowledge IF. IF stopped for a moment as she glanced back at the scene with a light blush, staring at the couple for a little too long before continuing on her path.

After changing into her set of pajamas and getting ready for bed, IF finally retired to the guest room for the day. There was only a single bed in the guest room, as there was almost never more than one guest in the upper levels of the Basilicom staying overnight. In the event that there was two or more, it was likely that Nepgear would have been present, so Vert would usually just convinced her to sleep with her that night. IF sighed to herself as she flicked the lights off and got comfy under the sheets. She hoped that those two wouldn't get too "friendly" and get her a stern talking down to from Neptune of all people. Clearing her mind, the maker closed her eyes and began to sleep and dream.

\- ( End of Chapter ) -

"Goodness, this isn't going to be a reoccurring thing like in Victory, right?"

 **What are you talking about Nepgear?**

"You made me get tackled twice in one chapter!"

 **Oh come on, it's not that bad.**

"You're just going to bully me more!"

 **Maybe. Maybe.**

 **Apologies for the delay on this chapter, I had meant to get it out earlier but a variety of things and a little bit of laziness disagreed with my planned schedule.**

 **On another note, I've slightly modified the description to be more inclusive, as I realized that in future chapters having some Megadimension characters would help the story flow better, however this shouldn't affect my overall storyline by too much.**

 **As always, reviews are welcomed!**


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